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<P>Dear Pete:</P><P>RFID is playing multiple roles these days in many, many 
environments and for many solutions. &nbsp;From your initial question, here are 
some ideas to investigate:</P><P>1. You could attack this using a standard 
solution with bar codes and data collection devices for tracking. If you are to 
ship a product out to a vender and if all of the operations had not been 
completed (or scanned) as instructed, the order cannot ship. &nbsp;This could 
be a function of MAPICS and/or the front end data collection 
solution.</P><P><BR>2. Using an RF tag/solution itself, the application needs 
to be read/write. &nbsp;As an example, operation 10 was just completed. 
&nbsp;When that happens, the tag can get written to with that step completed. 
&nbsp;The next operation, being 20, has not been updated (since it is not 
completed). &nbsp;Again, if the unit was to ship and the series of operations 
had not yet been completed, the transaction could be stopped.</P><P><BR>3. The 
logistics and the environment can be tricky. &nbsp;Neither the tag nor even a 
label could withstand heat treating. &nbsp;In the case of a label, certain 
types can withstand 500 deg F. &nbsp;There may be specialty tags that could 
take some amount of heat, but I bet they would be cost prohibitive. &nbsp;In 
that case, you would need a work order traveler or RF tag attached to a tray, 
tote, pallet, etc, that goes with the items/tools that you are producing. 
</P><P>I hope this helps you.</P><P>There is much ground to cover when deciding 
on a solution for applications such as this and I would happy to discuss this 
with you further. &nbsp;Please contact at the email address/phone 
below.</P><P>Best Regards,<BR><BR>Rick Schweitzer<BR>Information Systems 
Engineering<BR>Paper-Less, LLC<BR><A 
HREF=mailto:rick.schweitzer@xxxxxxxxxxx>mailto:rick.schweitzer@xxxxxxxxxxx</A><BR>www.gopaper-less.com<BR>Business:
 207-676-2118<BR>mobile: 207-423-4860<BR>mobile messaging: 
2074234860@xxxxxxxxxxx</P><P>&nbsp;<BR><FONT 
SIZE=2><B>mapics-l-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx</B></FONT><BR><FONT SIZE=2>Sent by: 
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SIZE=2>cc:</FONT> <BR> <FONT SIZE=2>bcc:</FONT> <BR> <FONT 
SIZE=2>Subject:</FONT> <FONT SIZE=2>MAPICS-L Digest, Vol 2, Issue 60</FONT><BR> 
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digest...&quot;<BR></FONT><BR><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Today's 
Topics:<BR></FONT></P><UL><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">1. RFID (Pete 
Olshavsky)<BR>2. Re: RFID (Jim Black)<BR>3. Re: RFID (Pete Olshavsky)<BR>4. RE: 
RFID (Andy J. Jacobs)<BR>5. Mapics Browser (Walter, Regina)<BR>6. Re: Mapics 
Browser (DaleGindlesperger@xxxxxxxxxxx)<BR>7. RE: Mapics Browser (Ashworth, 
Thomas R.)</FONT><BR><BR></UL><P><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">----------------------------------------------------------------------<BR></FONT><BR><FONT
 FACE="Monospace,Courier">message: 1<BR>date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 04:54:43 -0800 
(PST)<BR>from: Pete Olshavsky &lt;polshavsky@xxxxxxxxx&gt;<BR>subject: 
RFID<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Good Morning Group, Just 
doing some preliminary checking.<BR>But one of my accts is looking into using 
Radio Frequency Identification tags. ((RFID).<BR>Does anyone have any 
experience with these? Have you used/interfaced these with Mapics in any 
way?<BR>What they are thinking. And again very very early stage. Is to help 
control items that go to outside vendors for heat treat and 
plating.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Thanks in 
advance<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Pete 
Olshavsky<BR></FONT><BR><BR><BR><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">---------------------------------<BR>Do you 
Yahoo!?<BR>Yahoo! Search - Find what you're looking for 
faster.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">------------------------------<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">message: 2<BR>date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 08:01:00 
-0500<BR>from: &quot;Jim Black&quot; &lt;jrblack@xxxxxxxxxx&gt;<BR>subject: Re: 
RFID<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Pete:<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">You say this is to help control items that go outside 
for processing. What<BR>is the problem they are experiencing and how do you see 
this technology<BR>addressing it?<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Jim<BR></FONT><BR><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">----- Original Message -----<BR>From: &quot;Pete 
Olshavsky&quot; &lt;polshavsky@xxxxxxxxx&gt;<BR>To: 
&lt;mapics-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx&gt;<BR>Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2004 7:54 
AM<BR>Subject: RFID<BR></FONT><BR><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">&gt; Good 
Morning Group, Just doing some preliminary checking.<BR>&gt; But one of my 
accts is looking into using Radio Frequency Identification<BR>tags. 
((RFID).<BR>&gt; Does anyone have any experience with these? Have you 
used/interfaced these<BR>with Mapics in any way?<BR>&gt; What they are 
thinking. And again very very early stage. Is to help<BR>control items that go 
to outside vendors for heat treat and plating.<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt; Thanks in 
advance<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt; Pete Olshavsky<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt; 
---------------------------------<BR>&gt; Do you Yahoo!?<BR>&gt; Yahoo! Search 
- Find what you're looking for faster.<BR>&gt; 
_______________________________________________<BR>&gt; This is the MAPICS ERP 
System Discussion (MAPICS-L) mailing list<BR>&gt; To post a message email: 
MAPICS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx<BR>&gt; To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list 
options,<BR>&gt; visit: <A 
HREF=http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/mapics-l>http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/mapics-l</A><BR>&gt;
 or email: MAPICS-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx<BR>&gt; Before posting, please take a 
moment to review the archives<BR>&gt; at <A 
HREF=http://archive.midrange.com/mapics-l>http://archive.midrange.com/mapics-l</A>.<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR></FONT><BR><BR><BR><BR><FONT
 FACE="Monospace,Courier">------------------------------<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">message: 3<BR>date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 05:09:46 -0800 
(PST)<BR>from: Pete Olshavsky &lt;polshavsky@xxxxxxxxx&gt;<BR>subject: Re: 
RFID<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Jim, Part of the problem is 
they sent some items to be plated with out heat treat 1st and then shipped the 
finished product. What they were thinking and again I just heard about this 
late yesterday. So I believe they want to see if these tags can help prevent 
operations from being skipped. &nbsp;This is about all I know at this point in 
time.<BR>Pete<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Jim Black 
&lt;jrblack@xxxxxxxxxx&gt; wrote:<BR>Pete:<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">You say this is to help control items that go outside 
for processing. What<BR>is the problem they are experiencing and how do you see 
this technology<BR>addressing it?<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Jim<BR></FONT><BR><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">----- Original Message -----<BR>From: &quot;Pete 
Olshavsky&quot;<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">To:<BR>Sent: 
Tuesday, March 02, 2004 7:54 AM<BR>Subject: RFID<BR></FONT><BR><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">&gt; Good Morning Group, Just doing some preliminary 
checking.<BR>&gt; But one of my accts is looking into using Radio Frequency 
Identification<BR>tags. ((RFID).<BR>&gt; Does anyone have any experience with 
these? Have you used/interfaced these<BR>with Mapics in any way?<BR>&gt; What 
they are thinking. And again very very early stage. Is to help<BR>control items 
that go to outside vendors for heat treat and plating.<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt; Thanks 
in advance<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt; Pete 
Olshavsky<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt; 
---------------------------------<BR>&gt; Do you Yahoo!?<BR>&gt; Yahoo! Search 
- Find what you're looking for faster.<BR>&gt; 
_______________________________________________<BR>&gt; This is the MAPICS ERP 
System Discussion (MAPICS-L) mailing list<BR>&gt; To post a message email: 
MAPICS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx<BR>&gt; To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list 
options,<BR>&gt; visit: <A 
HREF=http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/mapics-l>http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/mapics-l</A><BR>&gt;
 or email: MAPICS-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx<BR>&gt; Before posting, please take a 
moment to review the archives<BR>&gt; at <A 
HREF=http://archive.midrange.com/mapics-l>http://archive.midrange.com/mapics-l</A>.<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR></FONT><BR><BR><FONT
 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">_______________________________________________<BR>This
 is the MAPICS ERP System Discussion (MAPICS-L) mailing list<BR>To post a 
message email: MAPICS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx<BR>To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change 
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 email: MAPICS-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx<BR>Before posting, please take a moment 
to review the archives<BR>at <A 
HREF=http://archive.midrange.com/mapics-l>http://archive.midrange.com/mapics-l</A>.<BR></FONT><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><FONT
 FACE="Monospace,Courier">---------------------------------<BR>Do you 
Yahoo!?<BR>Yahoo! Search - Find what you're looking for 
faster.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">------------------------------<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">message: 4<BR>date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 08:34:06 
-0500<BR>from: &quot;Andy J. Jacobs&quot; 
&lt;ajjacobs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx&gt;<BR>subject: RE: RFID<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Pete<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">RFID 
is the new buzz word out in the market today. &nbsp;Wallmart is pushing 
this<BR>hard for all of their top suppliers to be compliant by 2006. The dream 
is to<BR>have all of the products in stores be labeled and when you walk thru 
the<BR>readers, all of your products will be scanned and eliminate long 
checkout<BR>lines.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">How RFID tags 
work and what effect it has on Mapics is simple. &nbsp;RFID tags<BR>can be read 
only, read write, or variations of these. &nbsp;What information you<BR>can 
place on the tag will be determined on the size of the memory and the<BR>device 
you use to read the tag. &nbsp;This will determine how Mapics will view<BR>the 
data coming in.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Think of it as if 
you were typing in some information to a typical screen of<BR>Mapics as to how 
the data will interact with your Mapics. &nbsp;There are many<BR>ways you can 
take the data and massage that into Mapics, but that can be<BR>discussed more 
offline.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">One thing to keep in mind 
is that RFID tags are not cheap right now and they<BR>can have some limitations 
to heating, so the environment can play a factor<BR>in the RFID tag and may not 
be appropriate until after the heat treating<BR>process. &nbsp;Feel free to 
contact me offline if you would like some 
additional<BR>information.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Sincerely<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Andy Jacobs<BR>President<BR>Integrated Barcoding 
Systems<BR>1.517.266.7771 Ext.101<BR>1.517.266.7772 Fax<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">-----Original Message-----<BR>From: Pete Olshavsky 
[mailto:polshavsky@xxxxxxxxx]<BR>Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2004 8:10 AM<BR>To: 
MAPICS ERP System Discussion<BR>Subject: Re: RFID<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Jim, Part of the problem is they sent some items to be 
plated with out heat<BR>treat 1st and then shipped the finished product. What 
they were thinking and<BR>again I just heard about this late yesterday. So I 
believe they want to see<BR>if these tags can help prevent operations from 
being skipped. &nbsp;This is about<BR>all I know at this point in 
time.<BR>Pete<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Jim Black 
&lt;jrblack@xxxxxxxxxx&gt; wrote:<BR>Pete:<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">You say this is to help control items that go outside 
for processing. What<BR>is the problem they are experiencing and how do you see 
this technology<BR>addressing it?<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Jim<BR></FONT><BR><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">----- Original Message -----<BR>From: &quot;Pete 
Olshavsky&quot;<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">To:<BR>Sent: 
Tuesday, March 02, 2004 7:54 AM<BR>Subject: RFID<BR></FONT><BR><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">&gt; Good Morning Group, Just doing some preliminary 
checking.<BR>&gt; But one of my accts is looking into using Radio Frequency 
Identification<BR>tags. ((RFID).<BR>&gt; Does anyone have any experience with 
these? Have you used/interfaced these<BR>with Mapics in any way?<BR>&gt; What 
they are thinking. And again very very early stage. Is to help<BR>control items 
that go to outside vendors for heat treat and plating.<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt; Thanks 
in advance<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt; Pete 
Olshavsky<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt; 
---------------------------------<BR>&gt; Do you Yahoo!?<BR>&gt; Yahoo! Search 
- Find what you're looking for faster.<BR>&gt; 
_______________________________________________<BR>&gt; This is the MAPICS ERP 
System Discussion (MAPICS-L) mailing list<BR>&gt; To post a message email: 
MAPICS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx<BR>&gt; To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list 
options,<BR>&gt; visit: <A 
HREF=http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/mapics-l>http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/mapics-l</A><BR>&gt;
 or email: MAPICS-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx<BR>&gt; Before posting, please take a 
moment to review the archives<BR>&gt; at <A 
HREF=http://archive.midrange.com/mapics-l>http://archive.midrange.com/mapics-l</A>.<BR>&gt;<BR>&gt;<BR></FONT><BR><BR><FONT
 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">_______________________________________________<BR>This
 is the MAPICS ERP System Discussion (MAPICS-L) mailing list<BR>To post a 
message email: MAPICS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx<BR>To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change 
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 email: MAPICS-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx<BR>Before posting, please take a moment 
to review the archives<BR>at <A 
HREF=http://archive.midrange.com/mapics-l>http://archive.midrange.com/mapics-l</A>.<BR></FONT><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><FONT
 FACE="Monospace,Courier">---------------------------------<BR>Do you 
Yahoo!?<BR>Yahoo! Search - Find what you're looking for 
faster.<BR>_______________________________________________<BR>This is the 
MAPICS ERP System Discussion (MAPICS-L) mailing list<BR>To post a message 
email: MAPICS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx<BR>To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change list 
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 email: MAPICS-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx<BR>Before posting, please take a moment 
to review the archives<BR>at <A 
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 FACE="Monospace,Courier">------------------------------<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">message: 5<BR>date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 11:17:25 
-0500<BR>from: &quot;Walter, Regina&quot; 
&lt;RWalter@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx&gt;<BR>subject: Mapics 
Browser<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">We are currently using 
Mapics XA6 modules COM, PUR, IM, PDM, PDM+, CRP, PCC,<BR>MRP, and IFM. &nbsp;We 
are considering purchasing the Mapics Browser but would<BR>like information 
about its functionality, productivity gains, support<BR>issues, etc. that does 
not come from a Mapics affiliate's sales pitch.<BR>We're particularly 
interested in pros and cons of using it over COM.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Please let me know what you think of the product and 
over which modules you<BR>are using it. &nbsp;I am also interested in lessons 
learned on the installation,<BR>training, and maintenance of the 
Browser.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Thanks,<BR>Regina 
Walter<BR>Senior Programmer/Analyst<BR></FONT><BR><BR><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">------------------------------<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">message: 6<BR>date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 12:03:24 
-0500<BR>from: DaleGindlesperger@xxxxxxxxxxx<BR>subject: Re: Mapics 
Browser<BR></FONT><BR><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Regina,<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">IF your users are very comfortable with working with 
PCs, and are not<BR>irrevocably married to their green screen (some of mine are 
sooooo attached<BR>to their green screens they are at the &quot;until death us 
do part!&quot; stage),<BR>Browser can provide improved data access and 
maintenance capabilities that<BR>are little short of 
incredible.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Two examples at 
Fleetwood:<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">1. &nbsp;Engineering 
after we converted to EPDM (and Browser), we went from 2<BR>full time data 
entry people maintaining records, plus numerous individuals<BR>who maintained 
specific data elements, to 1 full time person. &nbsp;We kept the<BR>numerous 
individuals, but now they can only access the specific fields they<BR>are to 
maintain. &nbsp;Not only did we get significant productivity<BR>improvements, 
we got much, much more security and accountability.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">2. &nbsp;Material Planners - a weekly order 
review/release task done by one of<BR>our people took over 2 hours each week, 
now takes about 20 minutes. &nbsp;That's<BR>one specific example, there are 
more.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">The flexibility and dynamics 
of the Browser interface can't be compared to<BR>green screen. &nbsp;You really 
need to get your affiliate to demo this<BR>correctly. &nbsp;I could list dozens 
and dozens of specific enhancements that<BR>Browser has provided us - and we 
still don't have everyone using it. &nbsp;It's<BR>available, they just won't 
give up their beloved green screens (yet).<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">But you really have to put time and effort into 
training! &nbsp;That is<BR>absolutely critical. &nbsp;And the customization of 
views and cards, where you<BR>get the &quot;big bang&quot;, takes some time and 
effort up front.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Dale 
Gindlesperger<BR>IT Manager/Special Projects Leader<BR>Fleetwood Folding 
Trailers, Inc.<BR>258 Beacon Street<BR>Somerset, PA 
&nbsp;15501<BR></FONT><BR><BR><BR><BR></P><UL><UL><UL><UL><UL><UL><UL><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">&quot;Walter, Regina&quot;<BR>&lt;RWalter@xxxxxxxxxxx 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;To: &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 
&quot;'mapics-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx'&quot; 
&lt;mapics-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx&gt;<BR>extron.com&gt; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; cc:<BR>Sent by: &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; 
&nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp; &nbsp;Subject: &nbsp;Mapics 
Browser<BR>mapics-l-bounces@mid<BR>range.com</FONT><BR><BR><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">03/02/2004 11:17 AM<BR>Please respond to<BR>MAPICS ERP 
System<BR>Discussion</FONT><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR></UL></UL></UL></UL></UL></UL></UL><P><FONT
 FACE="Monospace,Courier">We are currently using Mapics XA6 modules COM, PUR, 
IM, PDM, PDM+, CRP,<BR>PCC,<BR>MRP, and IFM. &nbsp;We are considering 
purchasing the Mapics Browser but would<BR>like information about its 
functionality, productivity gains, support<BR>issues, etc. that does not come 
from a Mapics affiliate's sales pitch.<BR>We're particularly interested in pros 
and cons of using it over COM.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Please let me know what you think of the product and 
over which modules you<BR>are using it. &nbsp;I am also interested in lessons 
learned on the installation,<BR>training, and maintenance of the 
Browser.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Thanks,<BR>Regina 
Walter<BR>Senior Programmer/Analyst<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">_______________________________________________<BR>This
 is the MAPICS ERP System Discussion (MAPICS-L) mailing list<BR>To post a 
message email: MAPICS-L@xxxxxxxxxxxx<BR>To subscribe, unsubscribe, or change 
list options,<BR>visit: <A 
HREF=http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/mapics-l>http://lists.midrange.com/mailman/listinfo/mapics-l</A></FONT><BR><FONT
 FACE="Monospace,Courier">or email: 
MAPICS-L-request@xxxxxxxxxxxx</FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Before 
posting, please take a moment to review the archives<BR>at <A 
HREF=http://archive.midrange.com/mapics-l>http://archive.midrange.com/mapics-l</A>.<BR></FONT><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><BR><FONT
 FACE="Monospace,Courier">------------------------------<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">message: 7<BR>date: Tue, 2 Mar 2004 12:11:40 
-0500<BR>from: &quot;Ashworth, Thomas R.&quot; 
&lt;TAshwort@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx&gt;<BR>subject: RE: Mapics 
Browser<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Regina,<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">We use the same array of XA6 modules and have had 
Browser installed for<BR>a little over two years and there is still a certain 
amount of<BR>learning-curve and on-going 'discovery' issues. &nbsp;The 
interface is<BR>appealing to the users, but certainly a challenge to administer 
and<BR>manage.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Several points to 
consider:<BR>1) If you 'upgrade' PDM/PDM+ to EPDM, maintenance of 
Item<BR>Master/Revision and Bills of Material is restricted to Browser ONLY; 
the<BR>green-screen features are forever disabled [although inquiries 
are<BR>supported through a support add-on].<BR>2) COM is somewhat enhanced by 
allowing a greater volume and choice of<BR>information-per-panel and can be 
easily tailored for both your company's<BR>and individual usage of specific 
data elements, but there is no support<BR>for Picking/Shipping activity. Our 
user-base has also expressed their<BR>frustration with Order Entry/Maintenance 
with Browser, leading to a<BR>dual-use of green screen for order 
entry/maintenance and Pick/Pack/Ship<BR>functions and Browser for 
inquiry/analysis.<BR>3) If you have 'problems' with your user-base downloading 
MAPICS<BR>information to personal spreadsheets for reporting and 
distribution,<BR>Browser will only make things worse, as this feature is listed 
as one of<BR>Browser's benefits.<BR>4) Customized Views/Subets/Sorts can 
certainly be a great improvement<BR>for the user-base, but caution MUST be 
excercised, as the out-of-the-box<BR>MAPICS definitions can create more 
confusion than provide clear answers.<BR>The MAPICS database is not always 
represented in it's clearest and most<BR>usable form and a non-technical user 
can often make incorrect assumtions<BR>if the data is selected incorrectly or 
from the 'wrong' source.<BR>5) If you consider deploying Browser to your users, 
invest in Integrator<BR>to support the list of modifications and enhancements 
that will be<BR>forthcoming. Not only is Integrator useful in bringing-in data 
from<BR>non-MAPICS Sources, but also to re-define and enhance some of what 
I<BR>consider to be shortcomings of the Browsers use of the MAPICS 
database.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">This product was 
intended to move data analysis away from IT-support and<BR>distribute this 
function to the users, but a strong group of<BR>'power-users' with a clear 
understanding of the MAPICS workflow, logis<BR>and [ideally] the database is 
still a requirement.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">I would be 
glad to discuss any additional questions that you may have<BR>either through 
this posting or off-line via direct email.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Thomas Ashworth<BR>Business Applications 
Manager<BR>Altec Lansing Technologies, Inc.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">** Any opinions expressed are solely my own and do not 
reflect the views<BR>that may be held by other members of Altec Lansing or our 
business<BR>partners.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">-----Original Message-----<BR>From: 
mapics-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx<BR>[mailto:mapics-l-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxx] On 
Behalf Of Walter, Regina<BR>Sent: Tuesday, March 02, 2004 11:17 AM<BR>To: 
'mapics-l@xxxxxxxxxxxx'<BR>Subject: Mapics Browser<BR></FONT><BR><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">We are currently using Mapics XA6 modules COM, PUR, 
IM, PDM, PDM+, CRP,<BR>PCC, MRP, and IFM. &nbsp;We are considering purchasing 
the Mapics Browser but<BR>would like information about its functionality, 
productivity gains,<BR>support issues, etc. that does not come from a Mapics 
affiliate's sales<BR>pitch. We're particularly interested in pros and cons of 
using it over<BR>COM.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT FACE="Monospace,Courier">Please let 
me know what you think of the product and over which modules<BR>you are using 
it. &nbsp;I am also interested in lessons learned on the<BR>installation, 
training, and maintenance of the Browser.<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
FACE="Monospace,Courier">Thanks,<BR>Regina Walter<BR>Senior 
Programmer/Analyst<BR></FONT><BR><FONT 
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 FACE="Monospace,Courier">End of MAPICS-L Digest, Vol 2, Issue 
60<BR>***************************************</FONT></P>

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